


Love Me Blue

by greyskies261



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Hawkins National Laboratory, Protective Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, fem oc is one of the og test subjects, sjhdjcjfjfhf its so cute trust me, slowburn (ish)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:34:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyskies261/pseuds/greyskies261
Summary: Hawkins has always been a place for strange things to take place. Well, shit just got weirder. Milkee (a.k.a. 009) returns to Hawkins after seven long years. With no proper identity and little social skills, she follows Eleven back to Hawkins and spends her time wandering the town, reminiscing on the awful memories.self indulgent asf ofc(takes place after season 2, and continues well after season 3) (im not the best at summarys but its rlly fckn good i promise)
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Steve Harrington/Original Female Character(s), Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Kudos: 5





	1. it hurts to dream :(

**Author's Note:**

> my wattpad is @greyskies261, but im probs just gonna use ao3. hope you enjoy :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee has been living on the streets for quite some time, when she suddenly gets a vision of a young girl. All she knows is that she must find her.

It’s been a while since she’s last eaten. Her stomach hurts from being so empty, and she thinks she should be used to it by then. ‘God, if I could conjure up a fucking meal right now’ she thinks. Clyde squeaks, so she pulls the mouse out of her pocket. “I’m sorry buddy, I don’t have any scraps for you to eat. If I did I promise I’d give them to you,” Milkee sympathizes with her pet mouse. 

Her stomach will not shut the fuck up like she wished it would. Frustrated, she sighed. The worst part of eating was difficulty of getting used to the emptiness that followed, over and over again. She only ate about once a day —if she was lucky. She found the streets of Hartford Michigan to be harsh not too forgiving. 

She had been in a group home, 4 months prior, until her foster brother attempted something disgusting and degrading. To elaborate, she had been there a while, coming up on three years. Her foster brother who was one year her junior —her fifteen at the time, making him fourteen— but still well built physically. 

Milkee had spent her teen years taking care of the younger foster siblings in each household she was a part of. The food in the house wasn’t enough for all eleven children, so there was a daily occurrence of these “altercations.” The table would be set, and the adults would finally allow the kids out of their shared rooms. Though she was nearly being trampled on multiple occasions, she never got used to the chaos. 

The children would fight over the food, and she would partake in it, hoarding as much as she could, only to give it to the smaller children of the house. No matter how hungry she was, she would always make sure the younger girls got enough food. She didn’t mind going hungry as long as they were taken care of. 

Back to the main point; One night, after Milkee had tucked her foster sisters into bed, she lie down and tried her best to fall asleep. She was quite anxious to fall asleep that night, having had four nightmares in the past few weeks. 

The lights had been off, and she had nearly gotten to sleep when the creaking of the door held her attention. Keeping her eyes closed, hoping whoever it was would just leave already. 

She didn’t want to know what had nearly taken place, but she got the gist, considering she attended public school and often saw couples. She had heard the stories about sex and all the scandals that happened behind closed doors, but she had never taken part in it. She didn’t quite understand it. 

But when he had put his hands on her, in a way that no foster sibling should ever, she panicked. 

A burst of energy exploded from her, successfully tossing the boy like a rag doll.

The foster parents who housed them would’ve definitely taken notice to the loud thud, and the way the house seemed to vibrate, but they wouldn’t have cared; they were in it for the money and didn’t give a shit about the kids. Her favorite sister, Clementine, had woken up from the commotion and asked her why she was packing. The unconscious boy was ignored, all focus on Milkee. Giving a quick apology for waking her up, she told her to go back to sleep, and that she loves her and will see her in the morning. 

Finally grabbing her mouse Clyde from his box, she bolted. Milkee had packed all of her belongings into a backpack and ran, barely kissing her sister’s forehead before she ran out the front door, nose dripping and all. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping her going. The burst of energy sapped everything from her. She freaked out, knowing that if she was found out, she might be sent back to that place. Fuck, the thought of it makes her seethe. 

The weather was colder now. When she had ran from the home, it had been mid July. Her seventeenth birthday had been spent on the street, October 4th. Since then, there was a good two inches of snow on the ground now, and all that kept her warm was her many layers of clothes and a blanket she kept tucked away.

Milkee forced herself up, tucking Clyde into the breast pocket of her old jacket. She lead herself into the snow and to the off ramp of the freeway. 

She hated begging, to be quite honest. But, desperate times call for extremely desperate measures. She held up her shitty sign, reading “homeless child, hungry, anything helps”, and the newly added “cold”. The cardboard was peeling and it had gotten soaked one rainy night earlier in Autumn. 

When a woman pulled off the freeway, Milkee thanked any and every god out there that she had. Milkee wiggled her sign at her, and though the woman looked irritated, she reluctantly grabbed some change from the cupholder and handed it to her. “Thank you so much,” Milkee said, grateful for anything she could get. The woman said a quick ‘stay warm’ and drove off. 

Seventy-three cents. Enough for a burger at the local McDonalds, thanks to the low prices they offered. She stood for a bit longer, getting a dollar from another passing car, and then heading a quarter mile to the restaurant.

Buttoning the pocket with Clyde in it, she walked in, happy for the heat inside. Ordering and sitting down made her feel like an adult, even though she was only seventeen. Her order was called, and she collected her food and sat back down, giving Clyde his own piece of the burger. 

After her meal, she lingered in the heat until she was told to leave for loitering —when the truth was, the manager thought a homeless girl would drive business away.

She walked back to the bridge in near complete darkness (early sunsets, fucking daylight savings). Milkee pulled out her blanket, and used her backpack as a pillow while she tried not to freeze to death. 

She woke up in a cold sweat, nose bleeding, and panicking because she had seen something while she slept. Pulling her sleeve back, she sees it’s already nine o’clock, and she had slept a good thirteen hours. She’s lucky she woke up at all; she has seen other homeless folk lying dead from the cold.

In her nightmare, she had seen a woman in a chair, and multiple other flashes of that stupid fucking place that she feared with her entire being. Because of the ‘dream’, she was forced to remember the horrible memories she had tried so hard to bury. 

‘Breathe. Sunflower. Rainbow. Three to the right, four to the left. Four-fifty.’ ‘Mama?’  
“Agh!” Milkee yelled, the dream making its way back into her head. Each memory pounding into her skull. She just wanted it to stop.  
‘Mama?’

Milkee was overcome with the sudden need to find her, and to ask her what the hell she was doing in her head. 

Her mind started reeling again, and she saw flashes of a news article, of a small Indian girl.  
Kali, Milkee remembered. Her head started to ache again. 

Chicago. She’s in Chicago. Why do I know this? Who’s thoughts are these?

Curiosity overwhelming her, she packs her shit and runs to the freeway onramp, boots crunches the snow, thumb sticking out. After a good three minutes, one of the cars finally slowed down. “Where are you headed?” the old woman asked Milkee. “Do you have a map?” she asked the woman. “Sure do, hop in.” 

Milkee got in the passenger side, and the woman pointed to the glovebox as she got on the freeway. 

Unfolding the big mess of paper was a hassle, but she found where Chicago was and pointed. The older woman laughed. “Sweetie, the best bet you have is a boat. I think you’d have a hard time finding someone who’d drive you that far.” 

Milkee, a bit disheartened, but determined nonetheless, started searching for a dock. “Here.” Milkee’s finger was on a little dot, called Benton Harbor.

“Alright dear, I’m headed to the airport. Right there,” she pointed at the map a small ways away from the Harbor. “I’m only going that far, so you’ll have to find a ride from there on.” Milkee looked thoughtfully at the woman. “Thank you.”

On the short ride there, the woman shared her name (Helen) and told her stories from her younger days. Milkee enjoyed the stories, and once they arrived at Helen’s destination, she hugged and thanked her. Helen let her take the map, since she had two spares.

Milkee found a new person to hitchhike with, and they dropped her off at the harbor. Sneaking on a boat proved to be harder than she realized, but she focused her energy onto a shipment and made the boxes explode, successfully distracting the workers long enough to sprint on board. 

Hidden between many boxes and containers, thats where she lay for hours. It was cold and damp, and she nearly fell asleep until the ship honked, signifying they had docked in Chicago’s main harbor. She used the white noise of the boat’s engine to clear her mind, and took a quick trip to the void to see where she would find the small girl from her dream. She wiped her nose on her sleeve, which was stained a red-brown from the build up of old blood. 

As she left the boat, some men saw her leaving and yelled at her, causing her to run as fast as she fucking could, trying not to get caught.

Finally she had found herself at the alleyway she had seen in the void. There’s a lot of homeless people. Probably not caused by similar circumstance, but in a similar situations. She had no room to judge because she was one of them. 

Milkee entered the graffiti-covered building, knowing who was inside. 

“Hello?” she called out into the emptiness. Someone jumped out at her, he had crazy eyes and wild hair. “Who the hell are ya?” He questioned, a knife to her throat. “Start talkin’, or I’ll gut you like a fish.”

Milkee, tried to stay calm but her heart was in her throat. Her lungs seemingly stopped working, and her eyes were wide. Not wanting to get her throat slit, she closed her eyes and burst hard enough to knock Axel over. 

“Kali! We’ve got another one,” a girl cackled as Milkee wiped her nose.

Kali emerged from the upstairs room, a short girl behind her. She gestured at the girl to stay back, and walked over to Milkee. Kali slowly grabbed the other girl’s left arm, to be greeted with a small black 009. 

“Sister,” Kali said, out of breath. “Jane. Come.”  
The girl named Jane walked up, and showed her arm: 011. Kali showed hers as well, 008. A group hug was shared.

“Wait, why did you come tonight of all nights? She just showed up tonight,” 008 gestured to 011. 

“Yeah, well, when I woke up today, I had seen her in my dream, and there was a lot going through my head, but I felt so drawn to her, like a magnet or something,” Milkee said, looking at Jane. 

Kali asked for a demonstration of 009’s powers, figuring they’d be unique as theirs had been. “Well I can see this place, it’s like here but different. And it changes based on where I am. S-Sorry, I’m not the best at explaining.” “Wait,” Jane hesitated. “It looks like here, yes? But it is dark and cold?” Milkee, confused, asked “Yes, how did you know that?”

Jane took a deep breath. “Upside Down. Bad place...” she tapered off, obviously disturbed. “Well I uh, have other stuff to. Like you saw with him,” she pointed at the man who had threatened her. “I don’t know quite how to explain it, but it’s as if I’m blowing up a balloon, and then I focus and the balloon pops. Does that make sense?” She also attempted to explain the void, and Jane said to have that too.  
Kali showed hers, and then introduced the group and explained what they did and why.  
“So you hurt the ones that hurt us?” Milkee clarified. “Precisely. Goddamn, it has been so long. I mean, you left before I did,” Kali exclaimed. 

“I guess I did. It’s been almost seven years and I’ve tried to bury the memories, but it’s hard when that was my life for so long,” Milkee opened up.  
“I know, sister. That is why we do what we do. Those people need to pay for what they did to us. Now, you need to rest up, because we have things to do tomorrow. Jane has already slept, so you will have the room to yourself.”

Kali led the girl up into the room, then leaving to go and talk to her group.

“Goodnight Milkee.”

“Goodnight, Kali.”


	2. pain, suffering, and superpowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Milkee get some bitchin’ makeovers, and are basically forced to nearly kill someone. Drama ensues.

Kali woke her fellow traumatized number around ten, since she had arrived at four in the morning and needed some sleep. While she slept, Jane used her powers to locate their target.

“Today, we will be practicing our powers,” She told Milkee and Jane. They all shared a quick breakfast of cigarettes and random junk food for the younger girls, and Milkee introduced Clyde to everyone. Funshine didn’t love the mouse, a bit frightened by it, but Axel had certainly taken a liking to him. 

After “breakfast”, Kali led Jane outside, and encouraged her to move the train car. When Jane had made it reach them, the group cheered, including Milkee.

“Milkee, your turn.” 

Her heart missed a beat, but she made her way onto the tracks. Her and Kali stayed close to the train, since the goal was to push it away.  
Milkee, not totally experienced, closed her eyes and attempted, before becoming out of breath, upset because of how easily it had seemed for Jane to complete her task. 

Kali started ‘encouraging’ her the same way she had encouraged Jane. “Remember what they did to us? The way we were treated? We were shocked, used, and treated like dogs,” Kali spoke harshly, anger rising in Milkee. “You should be angry about it. They treated us like goddamn science experiments. Find the anger, Milkee. Channel it. Use it like they used us. Focus. Push it. We were children, and we were abused and tortured. How does it feel? To not know your real name? To be given a number. To not even be a human to them?”

Milkee didn’t realize that tears were dripping down her face, alongside the blood from her nose. 

With that, her body clenched, bursting with energy, forcing the train back down the track. Kali, having been knocked to the ground, pushed herself off of the ground. “That was amazing, Milkee. Now, try once more, but push all the energy onto the train, nothing else,” she said, referring to herself. Milkee smiled apologetically, and grounded her feet once more. 

She took a breath, and thought about everything Kali had told her, getting worked up. She found it to be extremely difficult to gather more energy, but she found it in herself and managed to force the train away again. She collapsed the same way Jane had. She was the only one who understood her exhaustion. Everyone cheered just the same, and they went on with the day. 

They tracked down Ray Carroll, the man they planned to kill, and Kali decided to give the girls bitchin’ makeovers. 

Jane’s hair was slicked back, farm girl clothes replaced with other darker clothes, and eyes dusted with dark eyeshadow.

Kali brushed through Milkee’s long tangled hair, and suggested that they dye it. 

“Come on Milkee, it’ll be perfect. Your hair is so light now that it’ll absorb it real easy. Plus I have leftover purple dye from my hair, its destiny! You have to!” 

Milkee looks at Jane, and she shrugs and said go for it. Half an hour later, Milkee’s neck is stained a bit purple, and her hair has already been rinsed and is now air drying while they get the van ready. 

“We’ve got three masks left, which one would you guys like?” Dottie presented three, one being a baby, one being another carebear (like Funshine’s), and the other a bunny. 

Jane picked the baby, and Milkee picked the bunny. 

Milkee was now dress in a striped shirt and dark jean jacket, similar to her previous one, as well as her worn out Docs and some jeans. She comforted the anxious Jane as they waited for everyone to be ready to go. Before leaving, she brushed her hair once more. Once seated in the van, and Kali did her hair on the way there: the sides braided back into two buns. 

On the way, they stopped at a gas station, and Kali convinced the man to go fix the non-broken toilet. “Okay contestants, you have a minute and a half, let’s begin your supermarket sweep,” Axel announced enthusiastically. Milkee panicked and looked over to see Jane grabbing waffles, Dottie grabbing glasses and tampons amongst other things.

Realizing Dottie has the right idea, she grabs a box of tampons because despite having superpowers, she still had a uterus and female anatomy, and therefore still got periods.

Milkee then runs over to the non-refrigerated section, looking for something. 

Her eyes scan quickly, and she shes a package of Nesquik banana milk mix. Deciding it looked good, she grabbed that, then continued over into the next isle. Head moving back and forth, trying to pick something delicious, she spots some Twinkies, so she grabs a box, and a few packages of Snowballs and shoves them in her pockets. 

“Hey!” They all looked up at the noise. Milkee looked through the circular mirror in the corner, and saw the cashier pointing a gun at Axel, who was stealing from the cash register. “Put that back or I’ll blow your head off, you hear me freak?”

“Put the gun down,” Kali said, stepping bravely in between the gun and Axel. “Daryl, your money is insured. We’re only stealing from the war criminal billionaires who own this place. You won’t even lose a dime,” she calmly tried to reason with him. 

“I said stay back,” the cashier said, stepping toward Kali, gun aimed right between her eyes.  
“We’re on the same side, I promise.”

The man, decides to proceed in his original plan of threats, but Jane walks up silently and throws him into the wall. 

“Damn Shirley,” Axel says to Jane, clearly impressed.

Panicking once again from the sound of sirens, Milkee grabbed a hot dog before running out the door following the others.

Sirens blare as everyone shouts and celebrates in the van. Milkee pulls out her pet mouse and lets him feed on the hot dog. 

As the van pulls away, the gas hose is ripped from the gas tank, and the sound makes a loud clunk. 

On the way to Ray Carroll’s house, Jane snacked on her frozen waffles, and Milkee copied her actions —digging into her stolen goods— and opened the Nesquik mix to discover it was just powder. Not in the slightest bit disappointed, she just dipped her finger into the mix and sucked on it, as well as experimented with dipping Twinkies. 

Jane shared a waffle with Milkee in trade for some of her banana milk mix. Happy with the trade, Milkee enjoyed the frozen breakfast food, realizing Eggo’s were actually really fucking good.

Once they arrived at Ray Carroll’s house, Dottie has woken up Milkee, who hadn’t even realized she fell asleep. It was dark out now, and it had been for a long while. Milkee set Clyde in the cup holder of the van, not wanting him to be at risk. After putting on their appointed masks, they stepped out of the vehicle. “Keep it running,” Kali commanded Mick. 

Once inside the building, and the apartment, they stood silently, watching a large man hunched over his television, wondering why it had turned off. Jane had shut it off, but it wasn’t like he knew that. 

“Hello Ray,” Kali broke the silence. 

“Jesus Christ!” Ray tried to run, but was blocked by Funshine, who forced him back into his chair.

Dottie and Axel run off to find his wallet and rummage through his shit, while Funshine guarded the exit and Eight, Nine, and Eleven stood in front of the bad man.

Seeing the man before them made some unpleasant memories flash through Milkee’s head, remembering the abuse, the shock session she had gotten after trying and failing to escape the first time.

Kali lifts her mask, Milkee and Jane copying her actions seconds later. 

“Do you remember us?”

He shook his head vigorously, knowing not to speak. He was not the one with the power here.

“What about us? Do you remember us, Ray?”  
Kali had turned them back into little girls, so that she could jog his memory. 

Eight hits him, hard. Ray slides to the floor, a weak man begging for his life, which is held at the mercy of these girls.

“You hurt mama.” Jane spoke angrily, each syllable punctuated with indignation. She grunts harshly as she throws him into the drywall, it crumbling behind his weight.

“Please,” the man begged, on the verge of tears. “I just did what he told me to do.”

Milkee looks at him, and asks, “Why did you do that to me? I was only eight years old.” Jane helps by punctuating each word each word by squeezing his throat. 

“He said she was sick,” he says to Kali, voice breaking.

“You had a choice, Ray. And you chose to follow a man you knew was evil.”

Eleven raises her hand again, choking him.  
“W-Wait, wait,” he said, voice sounding funny from his obstructed airway. She released her grip. “I can help- I can help you find him.”

“Find who?” Milkee questioned.

“Brenner! I can take you to him.”

“Papa is gone,” Jane responded, tears in her eyes.

“No,” he objects. “He is alive.”

“Do not lie to us, Ray,” Eight said.

“I’m not lying, I swear,” the grown man whimpered. “He trusts me. I’ll take you to him.”

“If he is alive, Jane will find him. Just as she has found you,” she states. “Do it, Jane.”

The man pleads, but is silenced when Jane starts choking him again.

“Not to quick,” Kali instructed. “He wasn’t so generous with your mother.”

Milkee followed behind Kali and Jane, mostly watching as the life is being squeezed from his body.

His round face was as purple as a grape, but as soon as Jane saw a picture of his daughters, she released him.

“What’s wrong?” Kali asked her, irritated that she stopped. 

“We’ve got a problem,” Axel interrupted.

“Kids, in the apartment,” Dottie explained. 

Kali turned back to Eleven. “Did he show your mother mercy? No. He took her from you, without hesitation.”

“We’ve gotta go, K. They called the cops,” Axel yelled over the mans pleading.

“We finish this first,” Kali says sternly. “Jane!” she yelled. 

When Jane would not budge, she turns to Nine. 

“Milkee, you’re up. Finish it.”

She shook her head no with tears in her eyes. 

“Nine, now!” she yelled.

If she wouldn’t before, she certainly wouldn’t now. Milkee hated being referred to by a number. 

With little time left, Kali pulled out a revolver, cocked and aimed it. Milkee cowered off to the side, wanting to be anywhere but there. 

Jane threw the gun through the sliding glass window. Sirens could be heard nearby. 

Running from the apartment, down the back staircase just as the tires screech on the police cruisers. 

They run into the van as quick as possible, and Mick started to pull away just as Milkee lifted her feet off the ground. 

“If you wanted to show mercy, that is your choice. But don’t you ever take away mine. Ever,” Kali berated Jane. “Do you understand? Do you understand?”

“Kali, go easy on her. She’s just a kid,” Milkee defended Jane. 

“We were all just kids. And because of your actions, we won’t be able to serve justice to those who are responsible,” Kali’s anger, now toward Milkee, who shrunk back into the corner.

Once back at the hideout, Milkee sat quietly with Mick, looking out the windows, while Dottie and Funshine play some sort of card game. Jane was in the bedroom, alone. Milkee figured she should join her, but she hated how painful the silence can feel. 

After a few minutes, she hear Jane yelling and started to get up when Mick stops her. “They’re just talking, Jane will be fine,” she tried to comfort.

Kali exited the room, and Milkee visibly relaxed.  
Funshine laughs. “Full house.”

“Screw this, I’m out,” Axel said and fucked up the cards on the table. Dottie responded with something condescending, then tried to convince Mick to take his place, but she declines. 

Milkee took Axel’s leave of absence as an excuse to go check on Jane. She knocked lightly at the door.

“Hey babe, are you okay?”

Jane snapped her head out of the void, and just shook her head in response. 

Nine approached, seeing Jane clutching the flannel she had arrived in, and embraced her younger ‘sister’.

“I’ve got something that might make you feel better,” Milkee claimed, to which El raised her head. She snatched her backpack off the desk. Pulling out one of her few Twinkies left, she dips it in some Nesquik banana milk mix, and held it out. 

Jane smiled at the kind offer, and took it gratefully. Milkee pulled Clyde out of her pocket, and let Jane pet him while she ate. It wasn’t a concern of germs, because Milkee washed him regularly. 

In the middle of consuming the treat, banging could be heard. 

“What the hell-“

Jane and Milkee could hear the officers infiltrating the building, shouting commands as they did so. Panicked looks were shared between the two, and they quietly rushed to the window overlooking the main building.

Kali snuck towards them and lead them somewhere. Milkee taking her bag and mouse along with, knowing they wouldn’t be able to come back.

“Don’t move!” The three girls ran as quietly as possible to where the rest of the group was. 

“The hell’s goin’ on?” Axel asked.

“They found us,” Kali whisper-shouted, and Axel started to pull out his gun but Kali stopped him. She moved her fingers to her lips, her arms telling them to not move but her eyes, wanting to scream run.

The police couldn’t see them —Kali was preventing them from seeing the group— and as they walked through, they were so close that if Axel or Milkee would’ve dared to exhale, a passing cop would’ve felt it. 

Once the piggies passed through, Kali gestured towards the closest exit, everyone in the group running to it. 

Milkee at the back, turned to realize that everything was back in there, including all the information of the men. She ran silently back, heart pounding in her chest, and ripped as many papers off the bulletin board as she could, as well as a handful of keycards, and crammed them into her already stuffed backpack. 

One of the police must’ve heard the papers crunching, and came back, accompanied by two officers. 

‘Fuck’ she thought, when they stood in the doorway of her only exit. ‘It’s now or never.’  
She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she was in the Upside Down. Not just seeing into it, but truly there. She could hear the echoes of the men yelling, scrambling to find the girl who had seemingly disappeared into thin air. 

In the alternate dimension, she made a beeline for the staircase, following where Kali made them exit. When she pushed open the heavy door, she was back in the real world, and thankfully she was not far behind the group, running out the door only seconds after they had. 

That was when the gunfire started.

Axel had shot in response, and they all hid behind the van, which was being filled with holes with every passing second.

The gunfire ceased, the group knowing Kali had done something to stop it. 

“Jane, get in,” Kali commanded. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but I have to go back. My friends- My friends are in danger,” Jane explained, trying to let Kali know this had nothing to do with her. 

Kali, clearly not caring for her reasoning, tried to convince to stay and that there was nothing left for her in Hawkins. 

“No,” Jane persisted. 

As the mirage faded, and the Milkee gave Jane an understanding smile, and lipped the word ‘go’. 

“Jane! Jane!” Kali called after her but it was of no use, she had made her final decision, and Milkee supported her in it. 

As the van pulled away before the door had even slid shut, Nine watched Eleven run off into the alley, wishing deep in her heart that she had gone with. She was the whole reason that she had even showed up. 

So Milkee lay there in the back of the van, defeated, watching Kali sob quietly, and crying a bit herself. 

Eight wiped her nose, and turned tearfully to the window, expression not changing from the shock that had been there since Jane ran.  
Milkee took Clyde out of her pocket, held him close, and fell asleep.


	3. sorry to bother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee gets fed up, and makes a life altering decision. She follows Eleven back home.

The night El left was interesting to say the least. While asleep in the back of the van, Milkee had another “nightmare”. 

She couldn’t remember how the dream started; everything was still a bit fuzzy, but the first part she remembered was waking up in the woods. She could hear screeching further into the thicket. In the dream, it didn’t feel like she was walking, just swimming through molasses. The spores falling in the air vaguely remind her of the snow back in Michigan. 

Once she had made it near the ear piercing cries, she found herself in front of a tree, the side of which had an opening. Milkee forced her way into the tree, chest feeling constricted like she would be stuck until the darkness swallowed her whole. Her subconscious allowed her to pass through the tree, from the Upside Down into a place that she recognized somewhere in the back of her mind, memories difficult to reach, purposefully buried. 

Milkee almost knew it was a dream, because she knew deep down these experiences weren’t her own. Her perspective was that of El’s; She watched her throw a creature through a window, and numerous other memories, including tearful greetings back home, and leaving with the police man. 

It switched suddenly, seeing from the view of a short creature. It ran quickly through these dark tunnels, past an older boy and a younger boy. They ran in a pack, all towards the gate. Her body felt like it was on fire, quite literally.

But when the demo-dogs had arrived, and Eleven was closing the gate, it was no longer from the creature’s perspective. It was from the beast, who was being sealed away, confined to the Upside Down. 

After the gate was officially closed, Milkee woke up in a panic. She wiped her nose as she noticed it bleeding, and most everyone in the van was sleeping, including Clyde. The mouse was sitting in the cupholder, and even Mick was asleep. Kali had taken over driving for her, and she assumed they had switched spots at some point in the night. 

Milkee climbed carefully over the sleeping bodies strewn across the van, and crouched behind the center console. “You’re awake,” Kali stated. “Yeah, I uh figured I should show you now. It might bring your mood up,” Milkee said. 

She reached back and grabbed her backpack, and removed the stack of papers from it. “I went back, last night. I didn’t want all of your hard work to go to waste, so I grabbed as many as I could. Some ID cards, too.” 

Kali looked over to the stack of various papers. “Good. Now, you will have to take the job of locating them, now that Jane is gone.” Her words floated bitterly through the air. Milkee knew she was just upset, but she also knew it wasn’t fair for Kali to be mad at Jane. 

“Anyway- Where are you driving to? Where will we go now?”

“Cleveland, Ohio. It’s far enough away that they wouldn’t be actively looking for us there.”  
After making it to Cleveland, they set up camp in an abandoned office building. 

Upon arriving, Kali made the decision to paint the van, since it would be too difficult to swap it with another vehicle. Milkee was sent into a store to purchase some paint, and came out with a gallon of greyish blue house paint since it was cheaper than car paint. 

While painting the van, a task that for some reason involved all of them, Axel bumped into Milkee while she was painting. 

“Axel wha-“ She looked at the glob of paint in her hair. “What the fuck, Ax? Watch where you’re going fuck-head,” she grunted, walking over to the side of the building to the hose spigot. Kneeling down, she stuck her hair under the faucet. The water was freezing cold on her fingers as she tried to scrub her hair free of paint, to no avail. 

She let it air dry, delaying what she knew she would have to do. By the time it dried, the bottom of it was crispy and grey. 

Milkee was pissed, and commanded Axel to hand over his knife. When he refused, she went and found a pair of scissors, and chopped off large chunks of her faded purple hair. She looked sadly at the locks she held in her hand, knowing it took so long to grow out from her shaved head. 

She asked Dottie to fix her hair, since it looked a bit ridiculous from the uneven cut she had given herself.

After Dottie had fixed the back, she stepped in front of Milkee to ask, “Do you trust me?”  
A bit surprised by the random question she nodded. “Ok, sit still.”

“Voila!” Dottie cackled as she revealed the new hair to everyone else, who all approved. 

Milkee ran over to the van to look at her new bangs in the side mirror. “Oh my god,” she exclaimed excitedly. “I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She squealed as she ran over to hug Dottie. “I just have good style,” she boasted.

After being in Ohio for a short 4 days, they already felt at home, except for Milkee. She didn’t know what was plaguing her, but she couldn’t seem to function correctly, with Kali in constant need of Milkee’s powers, and Jane gone, there seemed to be a lot weighing on her. She wouldn’t dare complain, feeling grateful to be taken in in the first place, but she felt like she was taken advantage of. It seemed ridiculous; Kali cared about her. Right? ‘She would never use you for your powers, get over yourself’ Milkee told herself.

November 12th, 1984, they had officially been in Cleveland for a week. 

They completed several ‘jobs’ while in Cleveland. Kali would always ‘encourage’ Milkee kill the bad men, but as Eight and Nine came to realize, Nine’s powers got drained much quicker, considering how much energy it took to use. She even collapsed once during a mission, only to be scolded by Kali afterwards.  
To be brutally honest, Milkee was getting tired of the back and forth. ’Use your powers, Milkee!’ ‘You’re tired from using your powers? Don’t overwork yourself!’ The contradictions were starting to frustrate her. 

November 16th was her breaking point. 

She woke from a dream, nothing to panic over, but she woke up in the middle of the night, similar to how nightmares forced her awake.  
It was one of those dreams in which you see someone no longer around, and it makes you miss them deeply. 

“Jane,” she whispered out loud to herself.  
The others were sleeping still, and Milkee knew what she had to do. Moving quietly, she grabbed her things, slowly grabbing Clyde so that he wouldn’t squeak. She packed her few clothes, including a beanie and some gloves, knowing how cold it got at night. 

Grabbing a loose piece of paper, she wrote a note on it.

Kali,  
I don’t know if you will forgive me, but I must go chase Jane. I feel a connection to her. You might not get it now, but I hope you can understand why I must go. The entire reason I left Michigan was to find her, and I just happened to find you as well. You have taught me things of incredible value, and I thank you for it. I owe all of you, for taking me in as one of your own. Tell Axel that Clyde says goodbye, and tell Dottie thanks for the haircut. Mick, thank you for protecting us, and same to you, Funshine. I am sorry that I’m leaving while you sleep, but I’m afraid that you would make me stay. I love you dearly sister.  
\- Nine

She clipped her bag shut, and looked around at the others. Taking a deep breath and a leap of faith, she headed down the stairs, and out the squeaky door of the building. She pulled her map out of the pocket she had kept it in, and looked from where she was to where Hawkins was. 

Knowing that nobody would pickup a hitch hiker this late, she walked the streets, until she found a well dressed man. She quietly set her bag down (with Clyde inside) and walked up behind him, and tried to reach for his pocket.  
He turned around abruptly, noticing the hand and nearly smacking the teenager. 

“Hey, get lost kid.”

She looked at him, frightened but showing no sign of it, and pointed away, distracting him for a second. She reached her hand into his coat pocket, grasping at a leather wallet. 

He gripped her arm, squeezing at her wrist painfully. She attempted to knee him in the dick, knowing it would disarm him for a bit, but missed. 

In retaliation, the man jabbed her in the face with his elbow. Hard. She fell back onto the ground, wallet in hand. Realizing he no longer had it, he turned around and tried to yank it away from her. She wouldn’t budge. 

Clearly aggravated, he crawled on top of her, trying to pin her down so he could grab it. 

Panicking from the lack of movement, she shut her eyes and burst her energy, sending him flying off her, landing a few yards away. 

Milkee, a bit startled that that even happened, grabbed the wallet and her bag, and ran as fast as she could to the nearest bus station.

Feeling slightly guilty for purchasing a bus ticket with stolen money, she closed her eyes and tried to envision where El was. 

Unable to locate her with all of the bustling sounds of the station, she waited until her bus arrived, and there she sat for the next six and a half hours, anxiously waiting to arrive to her true home. 

Deciding to sleep was a good choice since she was quite drained from using her powers. By the time she had arrived in Hawkins, the sun was barely coming up over the horizon. 

Not knowing where Eleven was, she waited at the bus stop for a bit, using the white noise of passing cars to help get her into the void. 

Once inside, she saw Eleven sleeping in a twin size bed. Needing to see exactly where she was, she stepped back, seeing the woods all around, and the cabin. It was an interesting concept to suddenly know where you need to go, just from seeing a few things in the void. When she was in there, things just seemed to click. 

A squeak interrupted her pulling her back into reality. She opened her eyes, finding herself back at the bus stop. She petted Clyde, and tucked him away in her backpack. She wiped her nose as she started her relatively short journey to the cabin. 

After following the road for quite a ways, she knew which part to enter the woods at. Eventually deep enough in that she could see the cabin, she glowed with accomplishment, however she was not aware of the ‘alarm system’ that was set up around the cabin.

While a few yards away from the cabin, she caught the tripped wire on her shin, and the traps let out loud cracking sounds. Scared, she started to run towards the cabin with her ears covered, only to be greeted at the door by a gun pointed in her face, a startled Hopper holding the weapon. 

“Who are you? How did you find this place,” he questioned aggressively. 

Eyes wide, stuttering a bit, Milkee said in a hushed tone “I came to find Eleven.”

The gun cocked. “You have ten seconds to tell me how the hell you know about her. Ten,” he started counting down to the moment he would pop a bullet between her eyes. 

“Nine?” a sleepy voice asked, inside of the cabin. 

Hopper turned to look at Eleven, who seemingly knew Nine. He turned back to Nine questioningly and she raised her sleeve, showing the 009 tattoo, given by the one and only Hawkins Laboratory.

Something flickered in his eyes; he was relieved to know El was safe. Well- safer knowing that it was her sister, and not someone who put her in immediate danger.

Eleven sped over to hug her, and Hopper ushered them inside, peeking out the door before shutting it. 

After the girls’ mini reunion, she introduced herself. “I’m Nine, but I typically go by Milkee,” she said, and held her hand out.

It took a moment for the police man to return the hand shake, a bit tripped out by the fact he would be taking care of another Hawkins Lab escapee. “I’m Jim Hopper, chief of police,” he gestured to his uniform, and tucked his gun back in his holster. “I’ve sort of adopted Eleven, in a way. I can talk to Owens, see if I can work something out for you too.”

Milkee looked at him and nodded. “Thank you.”  
“I’ve got work in an hour, but I’ll be back home as early as I can. We’ve got three rules: Keep the shades drawn, don’t go outside, and don’t open the door unless you hear my knock.” He then demonstrates his knock on the conveniently located wall. 

She nodded her head in agreement.

“Are you hungry, kid?”

“Yes.”

With that, he made his way to the kitchen, El following, and Milkee following El. He heated up some waffles, Eleven getting excited as she watched him pull the package out of the freezer. 

Once seated at the breakfast table, she set her bag down, and pulled out her mouse “Clyde!” Eleven exclaimed, surprised to see him after a while. 

Hopper, busy making scrambled eggs, didn’t get to see Clyde until he was trying to set down the breakfast plates. “Jee-zus,” he huffed out, not expecting to see a mouse on the table. “Milkee, I- is it clean?”

“Yes, so sorry. His name is Clyde, he’s been my companion for over a year, and I wash him regularly. Promise,” she spoke defensively, worried Hopper might make her get rid of him.  
Sensing her desperation, he sighed. “Alright, but no ‘pets’ at the table. And make sure you don’t lose him in the cabin.” 

“Thank you. It is very kind of you. I don’t mean to burden you, so I will follow your rules, Mr. Hopper,” she stated, wanting to make it clear that she would do what it takes to be able to stay here.

“Jim is fine. Or just Hopper. Nothing too formal kiddo,” he placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

After a bit, Hopper let El show her around the cabin, showing her the recently fixed television (something Eleven was very grateful for), as well as the record player, and Eleven’s bedroom. 

Hopper repeated the ‘don’t be stupid’ rules, before leaving. Milkee ended up taking a shower, and after, let El bathe Clyde. 

They spent the day doing arbitrary things, watching television, and listening to Eleven tell stories about her friends, in addition to all the shit of what goes on in the small town. 

When Hopper got home a little after six, he separated the two girls. He wanted to get to know Milkee, and learn about where she was.

“So, how old are you,” Hop asks firstly. 

“I think I’m about sixteen? I don’t know my exact birthdate, so it’s just a guess.”

“Where have you been?” he asked, trying to mask his concern.

“Well, when I first escaped that place, it was into the Upside Down. I can travel there, it’s similar to flipping a light switch. But, it was pretty cold there, so once I knew I was vaguely far enough from Hawkins, I traveled back to this plane of existence. I don’t remember everything, but I know I was able to find normal clothes, and found a home far enough away from here. I ended up in the system for homeless children, and eventually I was moved into foster care. From then I attended school, and a few months ago I was forced to leave my foster home, and I’ve been on the streets for quite a while,” she rambled, but Hopper didn’t interrupt, instead listening. 

“And then one day, a few weeks ago, I had a vision of Eleven, and I traveled from Michigan to Chicago to find her. Then I met her and Kali, who is number Eight. Eleven left soon after arriving, but I stayed. I left yesterday, because I knew I had to find her,” she finished, referring to Eleven.

“Why did you leave your foster family?”

“Well my foster br- my foster brother he-,” she paused, unable to finish. “Bad,” she said, eyes cast down, unable to make eye contact. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe here,” Hopper comforted, placing his hand atop hers. 

“May I ask, where did you get your name, Milky?”

“I didn’t come up with it. Some old man from my first homeless shelter called me that. It was because of my hair. ‘White like milk’,” she imitated the man’s thick accent from so long ago. “Anyways, the name stuck, and from then on I just introduced myself as Milkee.”

“Hate to break it to you, but your hair is purple.”

“Yeah yeah, that happened when I met Kali. It’s pretty cool I guess. It was really long, but then Axel got paint in it and it was this big ordeal. But yeah, thats the backstory,” she mumbled.

“What other, uh, abilities do you have? Besides being able to go to the Upside Down?”

She looked up from the spot of the table she had been staring at. “So I can travel to the dark place,” she pauses to correct herself. “The Upside Down.”

“I can visit the void, same as El can. Sometimes I can see things in my dreams, and thats how I found her. It was completely unintentional,” she explained.

“And I can do this thing. I don’t know what to call it, but the best I can describe it is like I’m filling a balloon, and then I focus and make it pop. I can sometimes focus the energy onto something specific, but thats rare, and I get tired very easily if I use that gift too much.”  
Hopper nods, slowly processing all of the information set out for him. 

“I’ve uhh, gotta set up a meeting with Owens. See what he can do for us. It might not be too hard to get your file, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.” 

She agreed quickly, even if she was secretly excited at the thought of finding out about her life. 

“For now, I think you should stay inside. I know your a teenager, so we should probably get you enrolled in school sooner rather than later. I’ve gotta figure out what to do with you ‘til then.”

She thought for a minute, but was not disappointed when she had an idea pop up.  
“I could be from the city. My parents died and you are my uncle? My godfather? Something along those lines wouldn’t be too hard to believe,” she rattled off a few ideas.

“That’t not too bad, kid. But for the time being, you and Eleven will stay here until I get back. Until I get your file. Got it?”

Grateful to know there was a deadline in sight, she shook her head yes, and thanked him.


	4. the good, the bad, and the okay i guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee meets Doctor Owens. After years of wondering, she finally knows her name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its kinda short my apologies

It only took a week to get in contact with Owens, and set up a meeting. Hopper left it up to Milkee to decide if she came with or not. Even though she was feeling very anxious about it, Milkee ultimately decided to go. She figured maybe the doctor could sympathize with her situation more if she was there. 

Nine showered the morning of, wanting to look presentable. She wore one of Hop’s button downs, and tucked it into a pair of loose jeans, in addition to one of his jackets, and tied her hair into a wet bun. 

When they arrived at the designated meeting place, a diner, Milkee was quite literally shaking with anxiety. Hopper reached for her shoulder, rubbing gently in an attempt to calm her a bit. 

Once Owens finally walked into the building, Milkee looked up wide eyed. 

“Hi, I’m Doctor Owens. Jim has told me a bit about your situation,” he said, extending his hand. She shook his hand, and Hop did his usual greeting. Owens being a doctor, specializing in most things supernatural, asked about her abilities, which Hopper almost imediately put a stop to. 

“She’s not here to be questioned, Doc.” 

She smiled gently at her father figure, of whom she had only met recently. While extremely grateful for the protection he provided, she felt it was okay to answer the Doctor’s questions. 

“I’m fine Hop. I can answer whatever questions you have, as long as you can secure my identity,” she stated, wanting him to know what her expectations were before she started.

“I can do this thing, where I can, like, teleport to the Upside Down, as you call it. Not just seeing it, but actually physically being there,” she specified. 

“Instantaneous dimensional travel,” the man nodded, clearly intrigued. 

“I’m also able to visit the void, and see people? Kind of? Its difficult to explain. And maybe you can help me find a name for this one, but-“ 

She cut herself off as the waitress approached. “Are we ready to order?”

They smiled politely, and ordered their meals. The waitress walked off, after saying when the food would be out. 

“Okay, as I was saying. I don’t quite know what to call it, but I have the ability to... I don’t know, burst? Like not me, but- Ugh. Similar to blowing up a balloon, and overfilling it. If I focus, I can make it pop,” she gestured an explosion with her hands. 

“Dynakensis,” Owens titled it.

“I’m sorry, but shouldn’t this be in her file? You should know this already,” Hopper said, clearly protective of Milkee.

“Ah, yes. I just wanted to hear it described from her perspective.”

“May I see the file?” She asked meekly, almost too quiet to hear. 

“Ah yes, my apologies,” he said, handing over the yellow packaging envelope.

She looked to Hopper, as if asking for permission.

He looked back to her, no change in expression. She moved her fingers to pinch at the metal holding it closed, just as the waitress returns with their food. 

The woman sets down a plate with chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy in front of Dr. Owens. 

Next is a plate with a comically large burger and fries, in front of Hopper. 

Last is a plate with assorted breakfast items on it: hash brown potatoes, pancakes, and sausage, and a small pitcher of syrup.

They thank the woman and she tells them to ‘let her know if they need anything.’ 

File forgotten, Milkee picks up a fork and knife and begins to cut into her food. She tore apart the pancake, pouring generous amounts of syrup over it, as well as over the sausage. 

Taking her first bite, a bit of sausage on the fork along with some pancake, she nearly tears up from how wonderful the flavors taste. She eats quickly, before Owens makes a comment. 

“Hungry one you are. When’s the last time you’ve eaten? I’m glad you’re getting some meat on your bones,” he chuckles, and she realizes he can see her collarbone, and the way the skin is seemingly suctioned to it. 

She slows down her eating after that.

Even without his unneeded comments, it was already difficult to eat the portion sizes given. When living with Hop and El, she was told to eat more, but it just hurt her stomach after years of eating so little. 

Pushing through, she did her best to finish her meal, pouring ketchup on the hash browns and taking large bites of those too. Milkee ate nearly two thirds of her entire meal, and feeling like she might die if she continued, halted for the time being. 

Owens said it’d probably be best to take the file home, since opening such sensitive information in public could be dangerous. 

Hop made sure to schedule a second meeting specifically for getting Milkee a new identity, all that jazz.

Owens agreed to the terms, and promised that one of his men would drop of her new birth certificate and social security number card at the police station, after Hopper declined offering his address.

The waitress came by, Owens politely paying for the meal. After exiting the building, he extended his hand for Hopper to shake, and then to Milkee. “It was nice to meet you. And, you might wanna dye your hair natural. Purple is a bit... eye catching,” he suggested.

Then they went their seperate ways.

After arriving back to the cabin, Nine still hadn’t opened the yellow envelope. She was definitely procrastinating, because she was terrified of what she’d find. 

She tossed it on the kitchen table, then walked away into the living room. She picked up Clyde out of his box, and curled up into a ball on the recliner (that had been used as her bed for the time being). 

Hopper followed through the door soon after, and was surprised to see Milkee distancing herself from the folder. 

“Look, kid. I know it might be scary, and you might not be ready to read it just yet, and that’s alright, take your time. I’m sure El would be more than willing to act as moral support, and me too. You’re brave, kiddo,” he nodded, adding the leftover breakfast food to the fridge, and went to the spare room, which was in the process of becoming his room.

After an hour of sitting and staring in the direction of the file, as if it would grow legs and run to attack her, she got up. 

Milkee tucked Clyde into her pocket and walked over to the table, snatched up the folder, and headed to Jane’s room.

“Hey, El? Mind if I come in?” To which there was no verbal response, just the doorknob clicking and turning open on its own. 

Eleven sat on her bed, reading some comics (looking at the drawings) that Mike had presumably given her. Milkee moved to sit at the foot of the bed. She set the mouse down on the comforter. 

“So,” she began anxiously. “I finally have my file, and I’m kind of scared to read it... Would you read it with me?”

El nodded in response, but made it known that she could barely read. 

Breathing out shakily, Milkee pinched the metal clasps together, and pulled the top open. She turned the package upside down, letting the small stack of papers slide out of a manilla folder, onto the bed.

Bringing herself to separate the pages, she came across an old photo of herself, shaved head and all. 

She ran her fingers over some printed text, her real birth certificate. October 4, 1967.

Looking further up, at the part she had been dreading most. Her true name. 

“Oh-peh-lee-yuh?” Eleven attempted to sound out.

Milkee huffed, the only form of a laugh she could get out. “Ophelia,” she corrected.

“Ophelia,” El repeated. 

Ophelia Torsney. An interesting name, but fitting for an interesting girl. 

“Oh my god, Jane,” she looked at the girl, all teary eyed. “I have a name!” She cried a tad more than she’d like to admit. 

After mainly focusing on the birth certificate and old photo. She picked one of the papers up. It had faded blue pen in the margins. ‘Test subjects 009 and 011 are the only pure-bread subjects we have,’ some of the scrawled words read. 

She merely skimmed over the rest of the papers before tucking them away again. 

She kissed Jane’s forehead, and thanked her for reading them with her. She walked out of the room, to find Hopper waiting outside. 

“Oh- here. You can read them if you need to,” she said handing him the manilla folder. “I have a real name now, Hop! I’m Ophelia,” she told him excitedly, and hugged him tight, a feat he was not used to. 

“I’m happy for you, kid,” he said, a bit emotional himself. 

In all honesty, Ophelia reminded him of his late daughter, Sara, so it took no time to get attached. In a way, Jane too reminded him of Sara. It was something about the way the girls were so quiet, meek even. 

“Do you know what ‘pure-bread’ means?” She asked, wanting to make sense of the notes. 

He opened the folder and she pointed to the page in question. “Oh. It says here that you and El were the only test subjects born in the lab. Hmm. All that MK Ultra bullshit really screwed up some lives,” Hopper said, sounding annoyed. 

Not quite knowing what to do with the information, she thanked him and went back to El’s room.

Hop stored the file away, joining the boxes under the floorboards.


	5. how to behave like a normal human being

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee meets Steve. Dustin isn’t happy about Steve’s flirtatious personality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this one is also rlly short

It took a lot of convincing on Milkee’s part, but after a few days of wearing him down, Hop finally agreed to let her take El out. 

The original idea was brought up by El herself, after Mike had left from one of their “hang outs”. It seemed innocent enough. 

That’s besides the point. Eleven wanted a dress to wear to the Snowball, and the only thing Hopper had to offer was large t-shirts. Not quite formal wear.

Milkee claimed she would protect El, (not that she needed protecting), and telling him to take into consideration that she had a proper identity now, so it would be no issue if they were questioned. “No big deal, Hop. Really.” 

God, he is extremely paranoid. Or protective. 

He’d agreed to drop them off on his way to work, made them swear to behave and blend in as much as possible. 

By then, Milkee’s hair dye was reasonably faded, being a month since Kali had dyed it, leaving it a light purple, a few hues away from its original “milky” color. She wore a beanie over the top, concealing it somewhat. 

It was December 6th, 1984. The first time leaving the cabin all together (with permission, of course). He dropped them off with some cash in the strip mall sprawl, the cute bricky buildings that the main town consisted of.

She turned to El. “Where would you like to look first?”

“I... don’t know,” she responded, looking slightly distraught. 

“Hey, don’t worry kiddo. It’s fine. We’ve got,” she stopped to look at Hopper’s old watch.  
“A bit more than an hour to wander, and then Hop will come and get us. We have plenty of time, babe.”

They started off, looking at all the shops, eyeing a few. “Tell me if you see something you like, Jane.”

After quite a bit of walking silently, El tugged on Milkee’s sleeve. “There. They have clothes in there.”

She looked to the sign, saw it was a thrift store, smiled and entered. 

They looked around for a bit, Milkee getting distracted with shitty worn down shoes, Eleven by the antique bird statues. 

“Oh hey, one of my homes had some of those,” Milkee exclaimed, looking at the porcelain bird. Eleven didn’t quite respond, just looked at her, and then back to the bird. 

“Yeah, it was this older woman. She had a bunch of girls, no boys. She was a pretty good foster mom, but she died and we all got separated,” she said, towards Jane. 

“What is foster?”

“Oh. I didn’t have my mom or dad, so the state claimed me and they would give me a temporary mom or dad. Like, just for a while. Do you get it?”

Jane nodded, and put back the bird. They made their way to the dresses, and it was an absolute field day. Milkee grabbed quite a few dresses, despite El’s protests of “just needing one”. She was forced into the dressing rooms, and Milkee stood outside the door, waiting for Eleven to show her the dress. 

After some shuffling, Eleven walked out, wearing a too-large burnt orange dress. Milkee snorted, seeing how it fit. It looked absolutely ridiculous.

“You look absolutely ridiculous,” she managed to say through giggles. 

Eleven tried to maintain a straight face, but within a few seconds, the facade cracked, and she revealed her toothy grin. 

After a minute, she ducked back into the dressing room. This time she came out in a sleeveless short skirted dress that was far too loose around the chest.

“Hop would never let you where that,” Milkee stated. It was true, too. 

“I don’t think I’d want to where it,” Eleven giggled at the idea of it. “Too cold out, anyway.”

Eleven returned to the inside of the dressing room, and after a bit of movement, a small gasp could be heard. She opened the door, creaking on its hinges, and out stepped little old Jane. 

“Jane, you look beautiful,” Milkee said, quite astonished how well the dress fit. 

“Pretty?” 

“Really pretty,” she smiled. The older girl turned and looked around very quickly, eyes scanning through the thrift store very quickly. “Oh!”

She walked over to grab something. Milkee faced El, purple belt in hand. “It matches the polka-dots on the dress,” she said, while fixing around her sister’s waist. 

After the belt was secured, Jane turned to look in the warped mirror. “Pretty,” she whispered to herself. “Thank you, Ophelia,” she turned to hug the teen. 

After the slight show of emotions, they picked out some black flats that fit well enough, they headed to the register. 

“That’ll be $22.50,” the older gentleman said, bagging the dress, belt and shoes.

Milkee reached into her pocket, three crunched up ten dollar bills. She handed them over, hand shaking a tad. 

“Your change is $7.50. Have a great day, ladies,” he smiled, his wrinkle lines more prominent, but added to the general warm spirit of the man. He handed over the change and the nag, sending them on their way.

“Thank you,” they called, as they exited the store. 

“Alright, Jane. We still have,” she paused to check her watch. “A good thirty minutes before we have to be back at the police station. Then Hopper’s gonna take us home, so we have to make the most of our time. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” El paused, before her face lit up as she looked across the street. “Dustin!” 

“You- who’s Dustin?,” Milkee asked, confused. 

Eleven pointed in his direction. Sure enough, there were two boys, headed down Main. 

She grabbed Milkee’s hand, tugging her across the street. “Jane you have to watch out for cars,” she said, a bit frustrated.

“Dustin!” Eleven called out for him, Milkee stressing over the thought of attention being drawn to them. Luckily, it wasn’t actually a big deal and the world didn’t revolve around them. 

The shorter boy turned around, grinning immediately. “El!” 

His curly hair bobbed as he ran to greet her. 

“How have you been?”

“Okay.”

“Hey kid, are you even allowed to be out?” A voice called from the sidewalk as they all made there way towards it. 

“Yes, Hop said I could,” Eleven responded.

Milkee looked to see who the voice belonged to. She wished she hadn’t. 

He was tall, devastatingly handsome, and had lips so pouty you just wanna kiss ‘em right off. Faint bruises littered his face, in addition to some wounds that were nearly scarred up.

To say her brain stopped functioning would be an understatement. Moving on.

“I- My apologies, who are you?” the taller boy asked. 

“Oh,” she said. “I’m Milkee. Well, actually that’s not my name. I’m Ophelia,” she said, and stuck out her hand. “Jane’s sister.”

Dustin looked at her confused. “Jane doesn’t have a sister.”

Feeling pressured, she started to ramble a bit. “Oh well, I’m obviously not her sister sister, ya know? Hopper is my God-father, and now he’s my legal guardian, ‘cause my parents... they-“

“She’s like me,” Eleven cut her off. 

“Oh wicked! What’s your power?” Dustin said, far too loud for Ophelia’s comfort. 

“I’m sorry, you know about her?” Milkee asked, pointing to Eleven. 

“Duh,” the curly haired boy responded. He got a light smack on the arm from the taller boy, as a gesture of ‘shut the fuck up, Dustin’.

“And you are?” she asked, wanting to know this guy’s name so badly.

“Steve Harrington,” he said, sticking his hand out to meet yours, which had been long forgotten. 

When her hand touched his, she swear she could vibrate right out of her own skin. His hand was warm and smooth, but the handshake was firm. She looked at his choclatey brown eyes, and had to look away after two seconds, for fear of falling too hard.

Like, so hard that your body splattered all over the pavement, and you can’t move and you have to be scraped off the ground with a shovel, hard. Never being able to walk again, hard.

“So, what brings you here on this fine day?” Steve asks.

“Shopping for her dress for the Snowball,” Milkee said, gesturing towards Eleven. “Who about you guys?”

“Oh just wanderi-“

“It’s Steve’s birthday,” Dustin interrupted. 

“God Dustin, it doesn’t even matter. Its just any other day,” he said, sounding semi-annoyed.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just grumpy,” Dustin said.

“Happy birthday,” Milkee offered sheepishly, feeling bad for even saying it. 

“Thanks,” he gave a half-genuine smile, but looking at her made it a bit more real. “I really like your hair.”

“Aw thanks,” Milkee said, after realizing it was directed towards her. “A friend dyed it for me.”

“That’s pretty cool. Hey maybe we cou-“

“Alright, Harrington. Come on, stop flirting. We’ve still got a long day ahead of us,” Dustin said, dragging Steve away.

“I wasn’t flirting, Jesus, Dustin. I was just... making conversation,” he defended, as Dustin began to actually drag him away. 

“See you soon, El!” Dustin called out. She waved back, and turned to Milkee.

Eleven looked at Milkee, grin wide across her face. 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Milkee laughed nervously, the whole encounter leaving her a bit confused.

“You like him, yes?” El smiled up at her. 

“What? No, what gave you that impression,” Milkee asked, all to defensively. 

“Friends don’t lie,” Eleven said, looking a bit frustrated. 

“No, no, Jane I’m not lying. I swear.”

“Promise?”

“God, kid, it’s really no big deal. He was just being nice, okay? Don’t put too much thought into it,” Milkee brushed it off. 

They headed to the police station (near where Hop dropped the girls off) and Hopper drove them home in his cop car. 

Jane thanked Hopper repeatedly, grateful that she was allowed out, and that she would look amazing at her first dance. 

When El was in her room, trying her dress on again, Ophelia approached Hopper. 

“Hey, do you know when I can, um, go out? Like today? ‘Cause I know El can’t, but I figure I haven’t been here in seven years so it should be fine? It’s totally fine if you say no, I just-“

“I think you’re old enough to make your own decisions, kid. You’re right, you probably won’t be recognized, and I can’t stop you. Just.”

He paused and pinched the bridge of his nose, as if stressed by the thought.

“Just be a good example for her, okay? And, stay safe. Nothing too risky, and no hardcore drugs. I know you’re a teenager and all, so you won’t listen if you really don’t wanna. Be decent, is what I’m trying to say,” he smiled at her. 

“Yes! I will be decent! Very decent. Thank you Hop!” Ophelia hugged him, very happy with that answer.

He left them at the cabin, and smiled to himself. He was happy to make his daughter’s happy.


	6. being decent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee leaves the house for the first time on her own. She meets Joyce for the first time, and buys Christmas gifts for Hopper and Jane. Thats it thats the chapter.

The next time Milkee left the house was December 13th. She was a bit weary to leave, even though the thought excited her. While she loved spending time with El, sometimes the cabin became suffocating.

Milkee didn’t know how El had survived nearly a year in it.

She asked Hop for some cash, needing to buy some pads, tampons, etc. He gave her a twenty and a five, and told her to let him know when she needed more and that he’d be more than willing to buy them.

Hopper had given Milkee a map of Hawkins, and drawn a red line, leading from downtown Hawkins back to the cabin.

He had been kind enough to get her a used bike, so that she wouldn’t have to rely on him for transportation. More of a favor for himself.

Hop dropped her off in town on the way to the police station, leaving her with the bike and a backpack. She knew the basics of riding a bike, but chose to walk with it by her side while in town.

After a bit of wandering she found the store she was looking for. Entering Melvald’s General Store, she was greeted with the rush of warm air to her face, a stark contrast to the biting cold just outside.

The bell above the door rang, alerting the employee of her presence. “Afternoon, anything I can do for you?” the woman asked. “Oh, I think I’m alright,” Milkee replied, setting her bike against the wall.

“I’ve never seen you around before. Are you new in town?”

A tad on edge from being in public alone, shook off the anxious feeling. “Yeah, I’m Ophelia,” she introduced herself, sticking a hand out to the woman.

“Ophelia, what a pretty name,” she replied, reaching to meet the teen’s hand. “I’m Joyce. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know Chief Jim Hopper?”

Milkee, panicked internally, before remembering an important bit of information: Joyce Byers was in on the secrets of this town.

“Sorry, that scared me for a second. Hop’s talked a lot about you. I’m his new ‘God-daughter’,” she said, air quotes at the word.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry sweetie. So you’re Nine?” Joyce asked, knowing the answer would prove validity of the claim.

“Yeah, and you know about Eleven, right?” Milkee asked, wanting to know for sure if she was to be trusted. Instinctively, she did. The woman was warm and welcoming, and had a distinct maternal feel to her.

“Oh gosh, come here,” she said, arms open wide. “Hopper has talked about you quite a few times to me. Do you prefer Milkee or Ophelia?”

Milkee, never one to decline the physical contact she was so desperately starved of. She hugged the woman, and responded.

“Either. I don’t really mind. Milkee is familiar, but Ophelia is my birth name...” She contemplated her answer. “No preference,” she hummed.

Smiling, Joyce let her go to resume her shopping. “Let me know if you need anything!”

Walking through the isles, she scanned her eyes for the main reason she was here: pads.

To be completely transparent, Jane had recently confided in her. She had started her period, and seemed extremely uncomfortable talking about it. Ophelia assured her it was completely normal and nothing to be ashamed of. She explained to the younger girl how to use a pad, and gave her the rest of hers to use for the time being.

Finally spotting them, down the third isle, she grabbed two packages of them.

Knowing that she was also out to buy Christmas presents for her sister and father figure, she began looking for those, too.

After a bit of wandering, she found a CandyLand board game. ‘Jane doesn’t have this one. It’ll be perfect’, she thought.

“Hey, Joyce?” she called out, while walking towards the front.

“Yes, what can I help you with?”

“What do you know about Hopper? Like, what he likes? I don’t know what to get him,” she said, quite honestly.

“Guys are usually hard to shop for,” Joyce said, making Milkee feel better. “You live with him. Does he have a lot of mugs?”

Milkee shrugs. “He’s got two I think? And he just washes them every day I guess..”

“Well, he drinks a lot of coffee. Maybe a mug?” Joyce suggested.

“But, isn’t that, y’know... kind of lame? Like ‘Merry Christmas, heres a mug. Thanks for adopting me.’ I think I’d feel bad.”

“Well I think that he cares about you girls very much, and doesn’t expect anything in return. But, if your really worried about it, filling the mug with candy would work. Like two gifts in one,” Joyce said.

“You are quite the sales-woman, Ms. Byers,” Milkee laughs.

“Oh please, Joyce is fine. And I’ll ring you up with the employee discount. As a Christmas gift,” she winked.

“Thank you, Joyce,” she breathed, and went to collect the rest of the necessary items.

She ended up picking a mug shaped like a donut, figuring it made sense since he was a cop. Fun little joke. She then grabbed a bag of Hershey’s Kisses, and made her way up to the register.

“You know, you’re really kind, Joyce. I know you’ve gone through the ringer, but you’re doing wonderful. I know how hard loss can be,” Milkee empathized with the motherly woman.

“Ah, thank you. I’m just taking it day by day,” she said with a smile. Milkee could see the pain behind her eyes.

“Your total will be $27.50, but with the discount it’s 21 even.”

Milkee thanked the universe for Joyce being so kind, otherwise not being able to afford the items. She handed Joyce the money, and got four dollars in change.

After stuffing the items in her bag, she hugged the woman once more, and ventured back out into the cold.

While pushing her bike along Sixth street, she noticed a pleather wallet lying on the ground.

Looking around and seeing no one, she picked it up to examine it.

‘Damn. 94 bucks and some change. I’d hate to lose my wallet,’ she thought, before removing the cash and setting the wallet on a nearby bench.

Taking the money didn’t necessarily make her feel good, but she didn’t feel awful about it, either. Was that a bad thing? Too late now.

Eventually, she mounted her bike and cruised down the empty street, only to turn onto another and find a couple people, strewn about.

She found herself in front of a toy store. From the outside, she could see many sets of parents, probably shopping for their kids.

Contemplating if she should go in or not, she finally decided yes, and parked her bike right outside.

It was a bit busy inside, but she carried on nonetheless.

After a couple minutes, she stumbled across a red view finder. She looked into one, and clicked the button, to see pictures flicking by. It was incredibly realistic, so she decided that would be Jane’s gift, part two. ‘It’d be nice to see pictures of places, and not feeling like she’s stuck inside every waking hour,’ she figured.

Nothing else stuck out to her, so she ended up at the register, paying for the view finder and some Christmas wrapping paper.

A solid twelve bucks later, she was out of the store, headed back home. The wrapping paper stuck out of her backpack as she pedaled, and she was a bit nervous about it falling out, but luckily it didn’t.

Once back home, she rested the bike on the porch, and knocked for Jane to open the front door.

It was a bit annoying, not just having a key and going inside, but Hopper had already taken down the “alarm system” he had set up outside. The progress was slow, but he was getting there. Every day, getting a bit more “normal”.

When the door opened, she told Jane about meeting Joyce, and then Milkee locked herself in the bathroom to wrap the presents.

She wrote a bit sloppily on top of the messily wrapped mug, ‘To Hopper, From Jane and Ophelia’ and then, on the slightly neater wrapped board game ‘To Jane, From Ophelia’, as well as the wrapped view finder, reading the same as the wrapped board game.

After half an hour of wrapping gifts, she left the bathroom and placed them under their mini Christmas tree.

Jane entered as she was doing so. “What is that?” she asked. “Your’s and Hopper’s Christmas gifts,” Milkee responded. “I got Hopper a coffee mug and candy, it’s from both of us, just so you know. And I have left over candy,” she said, immediately eliciting a response from the younger girl.

They ended up in El’s room, talking about life and things, eating chocolate, hanging out with Clyde the mouse.

It was quite peaceful.

And that’s it. That’s when Milkee realized: ‘Oh, this is what love feels like.’

And no, not in a weird incest-y way. Just, to love and to be loved. Like family.

_Family._


	7. real quick question: what the hell?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the constant switching back and forth between names. it just happens, get used to it lmao

It was finally December 15th. The night of the Snowball dance. 

Milkee started getting Jane ready early, since Hop got off at five o’ clock, and the dance was at six. 

Jane put her dress on, enthusiastic about the entire thing. Milkee helped adjust the belt, and do her hair, pinning certain parts back and some gel to keep it in place. She made sure to leave a curl out, just ‘cause it looked cute. 

Around 5:20, the sun was setting, and Jane was trying to convince Milkee to let her Eggos ready for dinner. Hopper was buying makeup after work, because they didn’t have any previously. 

When Hop finally did arrive home, Ophelia and El were eating waffles with her mouse. 

“Hop,” El whined. “It’s five five three. I’m going to be late.”

“5:53,” He corrected. “Sorry kid, the lines were a bit long. Guess people are excited about Christmas.” He lifted the bag in his hands, showing her the supplies. 

She thanked him and he handed the bag to Jane, and she grabbed Ophelia’s hand and dragged her back to the bathroom. 

Jane picked the purple eyeshadow in the small palette, and Ophelia got to work with the mini sponge applicator. 

After applying it somewhat accordingly (to the best of her ability), the older girl pulled out the mascara and did her best not to stab Jane in the eye with the brush. 

Finally, they present Hopper with the finished product. He complimented Jane’s beauty, as well as Ophelia’s mediocre makeup skills. 

Ophelia insisted on getting a picture of Jane in her dress, and she did. Hopper then rushed them into the car. 

When they did arrive at the middle school, it’s 6:12, and Jane is opening the car door and about to walk away, into the building. Ophelia steps out and grabs her arm. “Wait.”

Jane, a bit stressed for being a bit late as it is, asks “What?”

“I just want you to know, you look amazing. And, if Mike doesn’t treat you right, give me his address and I’ll sort it out for you,” she joked. “But seriously. You’re worth the world, Jane. Make sure he is good enough for you.”

With a short hug and a couple goodbyes, Jane speed walks to the building, as fast as her black flats would allow. 

Hopper sees Joyce Byers a ways away, and asks Ophelia if she’d mind waiting in the car for a bit. Of course she doesn’t object, and Hopper walks over to the little green Pinto. 

Ophelia sees them talking, sharing a cigarette, the works. 

After about a minute or so, she shudders and her blood runs cold. She is seeing the parking lot from a different perspective. Looming over the school, and her insides feel dark and bitter. She was seeing through the monster. Ophelia knows deep down that its not actually her, but God it feels so real. 

She can hear the muffled song, seemingly playing in the reality over. Her reality. The truth smacks her in the face, and once again she is scared, wanting to return to her realm. 

Next thing she knows, Hopper is knocking on the police car window, asking her to unlock the door. Chills cover her body. She does so, and redirects her attention to the time. 

Its been a solid fifteen minutes. For her, it happened in an instant. One terrifying instant. 

She couldn’t understand where the time had gone. 

“Hey.” Her attention back to Hopper in a second. “I said-“

He paused, seeing the blood drip from her nose. “What were you doing, kid?”

Taking notice to where his eyes fell, she instinctively wiped her nose. “N- nothing. I was just,” she huffed, knowing there was no point lying. 

“Tell me on the way,” he said, settling himself into the driver’s seat. “Start from the beginning,” he demanded. 

“Okay, when Eleven left Chicago, that night I had a- well, a vision of sorts. I could see from El’s point of view, her coming home to you guys. Then, I was one of the smaller creatures. Demo-dogs, she told me. And then I was running through tunnels, to you. I watched you and her on a platform. Her closing the gate,” she said, with a shaky breath. 

“But,” she paused as a car passed them on the road, taking another breath. “When she looked into the Gate, all of a sudden, I was in it. Like, I was the monster, and when she finally sealed it, I woke up,” she spoke quietly. 

“So, what happened tonight?” Hopper asked, being gentle with her, noticing she was a bit more sensitive with this topic. 

“I was uh, sitting in the car. And I could see you and Joyce, but then I’m not there. I’m tall now, and standing over the school, and there was the music but it just felt wrong,” she tried to explain, a bit teary eyed. “I wasn’t in my body, or the Mind Flayer’s. It felt like he was in mine. But I wasn’t me?” she sniffled. 

“Sorry, I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense... I’m not good at explaining. I don’t mean to cry, it just kinda happens when I get scared,” she mumbled. 

“Hey,” Hopper took Ophelia’s hand. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. Hear me? You are safe,” he reassured her. 

“Were you in the Upside Down? When you saw it? Saw through it?”

“Yes,” she nodded, wiping her tears. 

“El locked it away, so I think we’re fine,” he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. “I mean, it was in the Upside Down; you saw it. We’ll be fine, Milkee.”

Once at the diner, Ophelia cheered up right away, taking comfort in the warm environment and smell, ordering a kid’s meal and eating half of it, and having normal father-daughter conversations with Hopper. When it was time to collect Jane, he bought a to-go meal for her, and they drove back to the middle school. 

Ophelia went inside to get her sister, and she finally got to meet the famous party. 

Lucas was a bit awkward, but Max was excited to meet El’s sister. “How old did you say you were?” the redhead inquired.

“Oh, uh, seventeen currently.”

“That’s crazy, I could’ve mistaken you for a middle schooler,” Lucas said.

“Hey!” she laughed, brushing off the slightly insulting comment.

Dustin and Ophelia had previously met, but they still had small talk nonetheless. “I like your hair, Dustin. It’s different from last time,” she stated.

“Thank you! At least someone appreciates it,” he huffed. He pointed to his coiffed hair, “Steve taught me how to do it.”

“It looks amazing, dude,” she said genuinely, to which he responded with an interesting growl noise. Of course she tried to replicate it, (failing miserably). He promised to teach her another time. 

Will was the most hesitant to talk to this literal stranger, but he was polite. Ophelia knew enough about what happened to him to understand why he was a bit freaked. 

And then there was Mike. Ophelia was probably the most curious about Mike, considering he was the one his sister was now dating (or whatever they were doing). 

Mike was nice enough, just seemed like a kid who was emotionally attached to Eleven. 

The kids all walked outside with Eleven and Nine, and parted ways when they saw their designated ride. 

Ophelia was a tad too distracted staring at Steve —who was picking up Dustin— to realize that El was getting a goodnight kiss. 

When she did realize, the two separated quickly, and Ophelia assured them she wouldn’t tell Hop. 

Mike already seemed to like her based on that one fact. 

On the short walk back to the car, Ophelia teased El about the kiss, and told her they got food, the usual stuff. 

Eleven thanked Hopper and Milkee for a wonderful night, and for the food. 

Everyone went to bed happily that night.


	8. happiness is one hell of a drug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Milkee, invited to a New Year’s Eve party, gladly accepts. Thrust into the not-so-new world of alcohol and crushes, she gets piss drunk. Steve to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took super long to update. my apologies, ive been more depressed than usual as of late. here is more steve content pls enjoy :)

Christmas came and went. Eleven loved her gifts, as did Hopper. 

As a joint Christmas gift, Hopper gave in to finally getting a landline. It was mostly for El, who had little to no contact with the outside world (including her boyfriend).

Milkee was just grateful to be adopted by the kind policeman. 

And of course, after Christmas, comes New Years Eve. 

December 26, she had gone out again, and ran into a highschooler. He seemed nice enough, and asked if Milkee was attending Hawkins High. She told him she’d be starting next semester. 

“Great,” the other said, and handed her a blue paper. 

“What’s this?” Milkee questioned. 

“An invitation,” he said. “I’m having a New Years Eve party. You should come,” he smirked. To anyone else, his demeanor would’ve been threatening. Fuck, Milkee should’ve noticed. He seemed like a skeez, but she was just happy to be invited anywhere with teenagers. 

“Yea, I’ll be there,” she smiled. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Terence. Cartwright,” he said. “And you are?”

“Oh I’m Milkee.”

“Nice to meet you, cutie. So I’ll see you there?” he asked, as if he didn’t just call compliment her. 

Her mouth hung open a bit with confusion, but she snapped out of it to say “Yeah, for sure.”

Afterwords, she went to the store to buy something to wear to said party, since her and El pretty much live in hand-me-downs. 

She found some grandpa looking sweaters, which she really loved. After looking for quite a while, she ended up with two bras, since she’d been re-wearing the same one for a while, as well as some tights, a jean skirt, a striped button up sweater (she had to, okay?), and a pack of striped socks to match. 

She found out that buying new clothes was exciting, and something she enjoyed. And it was more expensive then a thrift store, and shopping new cost her 34 bucks, as well as some purple nail polish she slipped into her pocket. 

Now, before you say how “immoral” it is to steal, consider how immoral capitalism is. She didn’t steal from a family owned business; it was a chain. Anyways-

Milkee got on her bike and headed home. She was quite excited to be invited to the party, and even more excited to attend. She wanted to meet more teenagers, considering the only person she hung out with was Eleven, who was nearly four years younger. Not that she didn’t like spending time with the younger girl, it just wasn’t the same. 

When the night did finally arrive, Hopper was busy helping Joyce host a big sleepover. The Party wanted to spend the new year together, and the cabin was certainly too small, and the only other adult in the loop about El was Joyce. 

Milkee had asked Hopper outright if she could go to the party. 

“Alright, listen kiddo. You’re old enough to make your own decisions, and I know a ‘talk’ won’t stop you from doing what you want. You can go, just,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, imaging the worst. “Just make good choices, alright?”

“Duh. Thank you, Hop. For trusting me. I assure you, I won’t do anything stupid,” she smiled. 

With that, Hopper gave Milkee a house key, and took Eleven to Ms. Byers’ house, leaving Milkee alone to get ready. 

The time on the flyer said it started at 9. ‘Funny,’ she thought to herself. It was 8:32 at that moment, so she knew to start getting ready then. 

She brushed her hair, rushing through the tangles and such. After rushing to paint her nails, she put on her mesh bra, she slung her sweater over her shoulders and buttoned it up quickly. She pulled up her tights and put on her skirt, as well as her socks and shoes (converse she borrowed from El, of course). 

To top it off, she used El’s makeup from the Snowball, purple eyeshadow, to match her nails. Deciding against mascara, she was ready to attack the night. 

When she left the cabin, it was 9:07. She decided to walk, since taking her bike back home drunk would probably be a hassle. Not to mention the teasing she’d probably receive for it. 

The walk wasn’t too far; maybe one or two miles. When she did arrive at 9:46, the party was moderately full. High schoolers were stuffed inside the house like a pack of sardines, and some strays were outside. 

Going inside made her feel a bit anxious. 

All these bodies near her was something she wasn’t used to. To loosen up, she got a cup of the vivid blue punch. She sat on the counter in the kitchen for a long while, being too scared to join everyone else in the living room. 

After what could’ve been an hour, maybe just half, the boy who invited her waltzed into the kitchen. 

“Well look who showed up,” Terence grinned at her. 

She smiled back politely. “Yeah, but I almost wish I hadn’t,” she laughed nervously. 

“Oh why’s that, darlin’,” he said, oh so enchantingly. 

“I’ve never been to a party before. It’s a lot to handle.”

Terence brought his hand to his chest, mimicking surprise at the statement. “My, oh my. I guess we’ll just have to make it a memorable one for you,” he said real low into her ear. 

She flinched her head away, uncomfortable with the was he spoke into her ear. He offered her shots, and she accepted (as long as others participated).

When they had six shots lined up, one by one, each teen took it, ending with Milkee. Her throat burned and her eyes watered a bit. “Jesus,” she coughed out. 

Afterwards, she got some more punch and went to the living room where everyone was partying, and subsequently started dancing with everyone else. She had taken some back and forth trips to the punch bowl. On the way, she had her very first encounter with Billy Hargrove. 

“I ain’t ever seen you around before. You just visiting or ya new here?”

She directed her attention at the tall dirty blonde boy. “Oh hi,” she said, blinking a few extra times. “Who’re you?” Milkee asked, scrunching her nose a bit. She felt a bit groggy. 

“Billy. Hargrove,” he grinned smugly. “And you are?”

“Uhh I’m um,” she paused to focus a minute. 

She didn’t want to reveal her secrets while under the influence, so she took a couple seconds to think about her words. 

“I’m Milkee. But my name is Ophelia, I just go by Milkee though... Imma be goin’ to Hawkins High next semester,” she explained relatively drunkenly. 

“Ah, I see. You seem far too pretty to be in some shithole like this,” he said in an attempt to charm. 

“Thank you-hoo,” she laughed. “I’m not used to gettin’ compliments ‘n’ stuff..”

“Really,” he feigned surprise. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, believe it baby,” she said sarcastically. “Anywhooo- have a nice night, alright mister.”

“You too, hot stuff,” he said as she walked away. She shrugged away the compliment, feeling weird about it.

While nursing her new drink on the couch, listening to ‘Roxanne’ by The Police play, someone noticed her. 

“Oh! Hey, Milkee. I didn’t know you were here,” a voice said sounded confused. She turned her head, to be greeted by the one and only Steve Harrington. 

“Heheh, yea, I am,” she looked up at him and decided to stand up, since he was. 

She was annoyed to find that even though she stood, she didn’t quite meet his eye level. 

“Are y- are you even supposed to be here? Are you allowed to be here?” he asked, concerned for her safety. 

“Oh! Stevie,” she looks up at him with her eyebrows threaded together. “Pretty please don’t tell Hop. Shhhh,” she slurred and put her finger against his lips. 

He rolled his eyes affectionately, and said “You are piss drunk,” to which she only giggled. 

They both went back to partying separately, but Steve made sure to keep an eye on Milkee. 

She went back into the kitchen for more alcohol, and Steve trailed a bit further behind. He was close enough to hear Terrence make a remark about Ophelia’s tits, asking if the name Milkee was influenced by her ‘big mommy milkers’. 

He could hear her laugh it off, and then she got quiet. Steve could see Terrence was certainly encouraging her to drink more, and she did feel quite pressured to, and took another shot. 

Milkee excused herself to the bathroom, and while she was gone, Steve could see Terrence touching her drink a lot, grabbing the cup, and all the alarm bells were ringing. 

When Milkee returned with a pair of sunglasses she had no recollection of when she got them, it was to see Steve confronting the guy. Unaware of the reason why, she became upset at Steve, not knowing why he decided to pick a fight with Terrence. 

She grabbed at Steve’s arm, fingers loosely gripping his bicep. She tugged on his arm to get him to look at her. He looked down at the girl, and noticed how dilated her pupils were. 

“What the hell, Steve, I was talking to him,” she whined. 

He attempted to explain it to her, but it was going in one ear and out the other. Her head was swimming with thoughts, and she couldn’t totally focus on what he was saying while Terrence was interrupting, and disagreeing with Steve’s words. 

“Wha- wha’s the issue man, we were jus’ bein’ friendly!” she hiccuped. She stumbled slightly, but Steve steadied her. 

Terrence began to sweet talk her again, and Steve put a stop to it real quick. Irritated that Milkee doesn’t understand how scummy this guy was, he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. 

“Ste- Steve! What ‘bout New Years, man? Pu’ me down, iss’ not even midnight yet,” she huffed. She wiggled around in his grip, trying to make him drop her. 

After they were out on the porch, away from the creep, he set her down, but still keeps her steady. God knows she needed it. 

“I’m gonna tell Hopper on you if you don’t stop being so difficult.”

She glared at him in response, and whipped around to walk away, nearly falling over herself. He saved her, once again. “I’m trying to help you, dumbass,” he chuckled.

“Alright, come on,” he said, and picked her up bridal style, against her will. Once she was in his arms, she realized how tired she was. And how fucking cold it was outside. 

She finally settled her head against his shoulder, and looked up at him through hooded eyes. ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ could be heard from the house party, but her brain was entirely fuzzy. She continued to stare at him as the chorus played, stared at his jawline, stared at the slope of his nose, and God, those eyes. 

‘I want to know what love is,’ the speakers blasted. They were right next to the open door, from where the music was coming, yet the song felt like she was three rooms away. “I want you to show me,” she sung off-key, finishing the lyrics. 

She readjusted her head against his chest, and let her eyes rest when he started walking to his car. 

When he looked at her sleepy face, he wished he hadn’t. Her eyelashes casting shadows on her cheeks, lips looking soft, and the purple eyeshadow rubbing off her eyelids definitely matched her fading purple hair. His heart beats a tad irregularly at the sight, and he almost wished the walk to the car was further then it was. He liked the way she felt in his arms; he liked holding her. 

When they did arrive at the car, shouting could be heard from inside the house, the loud countdown ‘til the New Year had begun. 

Steve opened her door without too much struggle, and set her gently in the passenger seat. He shut her door, and walked around the car to get in the driver’s seat. His door clicked closed, and when it did, it drowned out 80% of the howling and celebrating from the party. 

“Happy New Years,” she slurred out. He smiled at her, and repeated it back. 

On the ride home, Milkee rested her head against the cool glass of the passenger window. Every bump the car felt vibrated her head, but she didn’t mind it too much. 

At some point, they were inside the front door of Steve’s house, which confused her because she had no recollection of arriving, or going inside. She decided not to question it, decided she was quite content in his arms. 

He had no issue carrying her up the stairs, her arm kissing the edge of the door frame as he held her, and he ended up setting her on his bed. She flopped diagonally across it, body feeling heavy. 

After some amount of time, Steve returns with a glass of water, in an attempt to hydrate her. 

He sat her up, and when he noticed her eyes were still closed, he brushed her hair out of her face. “Hey, you okay?” he asked, eyes full of worry. 

She looked uncomfortable, so he asked. “Do you need to throw up?” With the realization of ‘oh, that’s whats wrong’, she rushed over to the attached bathroom. Milkee lifted the toilet seat, and Steve followed quickly into the bathroom.

While she was quite literally spilling her guts, he held her hair up and rubbed her back soothingly. After she emptied the contents of her stomach, which was all alcohol, jello shots, and blue punch, Steve flushed the toilet and got a wet wash clothe to wipe her mouth. Her mystery sunglasses were still perched atop her faded hair. 

“Feel any better?” 

She nodded a bit, leaning back towards the bathtub, before being offered the glass of water, which she declined. 

“Come on, alcohol and vomiting both dehydrate you. Just drink the water, Ophelia.”

She looked at him, trying to keep her eyes open. He sat closer and raised the glass to her lips, and she did end up drinking it. She was thirstier than she realized. 

Hydration completed, he laid her down in his bed, and gave her a new shirt and pants to change into while he excused himself. 

When he came back to collect her dirty clothes, of which he planned on washing for her, he saw Milkee laying diagonally across the bed yet again. It was quite endearing to see the way his shirt hung off her smaller frame. 

That’s when he noticed for the first time, how prominent her collarbones were, as well as how skinny her face looked, in addition to the way the skin clung to her knuckles and wrists. 

Concerned, he tabled the thought for another time, preferably when she was conscious and sober. 

He put her dirty clothes in the washer and dryer, and slept in his parents room that night, since it was conveniently empty, his parents being gone quite often. 

The next morning, Milkee woke up with a dry mouth tasting bitter. The mix of alcohol and bad breath was such an awful combination. 

When she finally managed to roll herself over and stand up, the dull throb of her head came with it, and it was a bit overwhelming. Ignoring the pain, she shuffled to the bathroom, and sat down. She was in desperate need of a piss, just like every other morning. 

After she flushed the toilet, she washed her hands. The cold water was too cold for her liking, since she’s literally always cold; however it felt nice to splash it on her face, giving slight relief to the headache. 

When she unlocked the bathroom door and exits, she sees Steve walking in the room. 

“How’d you sleep?” Steve asked. 

“Oh, hey. How’d you know I was awake?” she said, not quite answering his question. 

“Toilet. Kinda noticeable.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I slept like a rock. You?” Milkee responded. 

“Meh, it was alright. How are you feeling this morning? Headache? Hungry?”

“I definitely have a headache,” she chuckled slightly, making said headache throb again. “Not really hungry though.”

Steve thought back to her sunken collarbones, and all the other signs of malnutrition. “Let’s go downstairs. I’ll make you oatmeal.”

“But I said I wasn’t-,” she whined, only to be interrupted. 

“It’s good for hangovers and shit. Trust me,” he said, trying to convince her to eat for any reason. 

She huffed, and followed him downstairs. 

When Steve was setting the bowls on the counter, he turned to see Milkee propping herself up on the island, legs hanging off. 

He smiled and asked, “Maple and cinnamon, or peaches and cream?”

Assuming he was referring to the various oatmeal flavors, she responded, picking the first. 

After putting the instant oatmeal pack in the bowl along with some water, he joined her on the counter.

“Is Hopper gonna be mad at you?” He questioned. 

“Oh he’s not even home right now. It’ll be fine, I’ll definitely get home before him. He’s probably sleeping like a rock right now; he isn’t used to staying up late,” she explained. “Eleven, Mike and the rest were spending New Years at Ms. Byers’. Hop was helping chaperone, ya know?”

Steve only nodded in response, getting up when the microwave chimed to get the oatmeal out. 

He handed Milkee her bowl of maple cinnamon oatmeal, and turned to get a spoon for her. “I never thanked you, by the way,” she stated. When he turned to look at her, she quickly finished her thought. “So, thank you.”

“Yeah, no big deal,” Steve claimed. However, it was a huge fucking deal. She made him feel something. Something good. 

And Steve didn’t quite know how to feel about that. 

They ate their oatmeal in comfortable silence, sitting on the counter, hunched over their bowls. It was sweet, in some way. 

While Steve was busy forcing the thoughts of how she looked the previous night out of his mind, Milkee was thinking back to the way Jane accused her of flirting with Steve. 

Shaking her head like an etch-a-sketch, she tried to clear it of the thoughts, just as Steve was.

After finishing breakfast, Steve offered her a ride home. Accepting gratefully, she put her original clothes on —which Steve kindly washed for her— and met him downstairs. 

On the drive to the cabin, they talked about mundane things, like Milkee attending Hawkins High next semester, Steve stressed over his college applications, and just the overall tire of being a teenager. 

Steve drove up the newly paved “driveway”(if you could call it that), and arrived at the front of the cabin. 

When turning to thank him for his gratuitous hospitality, she paused to see the scars scattered across his face. She reached her hand out, cradled his jaw, and gently rubbed her thumb against his cheek.

Studying his face, she noticed the bruising that was visible when they first met was now healed. Eyes glancing at the scarring on his face, she brushed her thumb over some of the scarfing, being careful to not come off as intrusive. 

“Pretty,” she said as if it were a diagnosis. She smiled at him, and exited the car. 

He sat for a minute, partially from slight shock, but mostly to make sure she got inside okay, then turned his car around and drove back to the main road. 

When Milkee got inside the house, she went straight to shower and change. The next hour or so was spent lounging on the couch, watching the television with Clyde. 

A while later, Hopper and Eleven arrived home. El wore a big grin, and Hop looked relatively exhausted. 

“Have fun?” Milkee asked the both of them.

Hopper only grunted in response, but Eleven dragged her into her room to tell her stories of her first New Year’s Eve, kissing Mike at midnight, and stuff of similarity. 

The older girl smiled, perfectly content with listening to the younger one talk so much. 

Happiness is truly a drug.


End file.
